The Ashanti and the white men shackle Amari and the remaining villagers, all young people, and force them to march. When she’s better, she tries to lay low in the kitchen—Mr. With Teenie’s help, they get the baby to a slave woman named Sara Jane. [4] Kirkus Reviews added the novel showed "cynicism and realistic outlook". Teenie insists that Amari must live and shows her the kente cloth that Teenie’s mother managed to hang onto all the way from Africa.

COPPER SUN: SUMMARY.
(including. From the height, he sees Besa coming their way. Hours later, they bring the women and children up to the deck. One evening, Tidbit wails that Hushpuppy is gone. Derby insisted she go to the fields after the dining room debacle. Mr. Derby returns, ushers Polly into the back of the wagon, and begins the long journey home. [6] Another critic thought of the novel as “character driven, with a fast moving plot, and unforgettable characters”. He runs to the neighboring plantation and sends Amari and Polly to help his wife. Teachers and parents! She’s nauseous and dizzy. It smells of sweat, blood, and waste. He confirms that Fort Mose is real and hides them in his father’s barn; but Amari, Polly, and Tidbit have to hide in a swamp when Nathan’s father discovers them. As dinner progresses, Polly realizes that Mrs. Derby is deeply unhappy and powerless. The pie goes all over the carpet. The sailors lead the women past the men, who are stacked tightly on shelves, and chain the women in the hold. The story opens with Kwasi (Amari’s younger brother) climbing a coconut tree to look a giraffe in the eye. Amari agrees. Teenie gives Tidbit her mother’s kente cloth and wails as the wagon pulls out. Mother scolds Amari for being concerned about the visitors; she says it’s uncivilized to judge people on looks. Other coffles of slaves join them, and they eventually make it to a city where “white men [were] walking arm in arm with black men, with no chains on either of them” (22). Fifteen-year-old Amari laughs as her little brother, Kwasi, plays in a coconut tree. Amari is terrified and confused as white men strip her, bind her wrists and ankles, and slather her in oil. The sailors also force the slaves to dance every day for exercise. Teenie sends Polly, Amari, and Tidbit to the rice fields with food and water for the slaves there. He makes Amari come so he can show her off to his friends. Amari loves her community (the Ewe people), her family, and her soon-to-be husband, Besa. Amari easily delivers Mrs. Derby’s baby—but the baby is Black. In her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration, but these strangers are not here to celebrate. He follows Teenie’s instructions to poison Clay and make him ill so that he can’t accompany the doctor.

But these strangers are not her to celebrate. In essence, she’s telling herself that they’re leaving the bodies because they don’t know what to do, not because they don’t care about their victims. She believes her husband will kill her, the baby, and Noah, the baby’s father. Not long after that, a woman named Fiona finds them in her husband’s hunting shelter. It begins to rain, and late in the night, they discover a cave and build a fire. As Amari settles in, Polly realizes that this could be a real possibility soon. Though they tell Mr. Derby that the baby was stillborn, he insists that the doctor is on his way and will need to examine the body. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased.

Over the next few days, Amari’s captors sell her, brand her, and imprison her in a pen on the beach. Amari is concerned when she seems not to fully recover from the ordeal. Polly, Teenie, and Mrs. Derby nurse her. “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Kirkus Reviews added the novel showed "cynicism and realistic outlook". They discuss the difficulties of slavery and Inez asks how Amari has been feeling. Two women jump into the water, but sharks eat them. The slave is Besa, but his spirit is broken. Polly wonders if Black people actually have feelings. Amari and her neighbors believed that since they and the Ashanti are friends, they could trust the Ashanti to not betray them. Mr. Derby whips her. When she sees the land, she’s shocked that it’s beautiful. Several days later, they come across a Spanish soldier. After an especially bad night with Clay, Amari asks Teenie if she has herbs that could kill her. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Though she owns slaves and believes that slavery is okay, she’s excited to be able to make her own decision for once and has one of her slaves hitch up a wagon for the runaways. In the warehouse near the shore, Besa finds Amari and tells her to never forget him. Though on some nights a sailor named Bill teaches Amari English, sailors rape the women nightly. Mrs. Derby looks at Amari with compassion, and once, she even apologizes for Clay’s behavior.
The beginning of the book is set in Ziavi which is the African village that Amari and Besa have grown up in.